Louise Buck
Louise McArthur Buck passed away at her home in Rye on December 4. She had been a resident of Rye since 1938, and of The Osborn Retirement Community since 2001.
Born in Phoenix, Arizona in 1915, she was the daughter of Warren McArthur Jr. and Lorraine Peaslee McArthur. Her father and her uncle, Albert McArthur, were the developer and the architect of the Arizona Biltmore Hotel/Resort. Born before the end of World War I, she grew up in times quite different from those today. She enjoyed recollecting that in 1928 she had the opportunity to have Sunday McArthur-family dinners with Frank Lloyd Wright, a Biltmore collaborator, and while in high school in Washington, D.C. in 1932, a dance with Herbert Hoover in the White House, and champagne with the King of Siam at the Siamese Embassy.
An accomplished golfer and a tennis and badminton player, she was women’s golf champion of Philadelphia Country Club at age 18 and competed in the National Women’s Amateur in her 20s. Mrs. Buck won multiple Rye badminton titles in the 1940s and competed actively for the Apawamis Club golf team in Westchester and Fairfield counties and in New Jersey in the 1950s and 60s.
She was also a member of American Yacht Club, the Rye Garden Club, and United Hospital’s 10th Twig, where she served as an in-hospital volunteer for 50 years. She also volunteered at the Twig Thrift Shop in Port Chester, its Antique Shop in Rye, and at Miriam’s Attic at The Osborn.
“Tweezie,” as she was fondly called by her family and friends, was a gracious hostess, avid bridge player, lifelong reader, devoted daughter, sister, wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, who was greatly enjoyed and appreciated by all who knew her over her many years. Independence, loyalty, and a wonderful sense of humor were her hallmarks and stand especially memorable and appreciated.
Mrs. Buck was predeceased by her husband, Lanphear, in 1974; as well as her sister, Lorraine Lindenmeyr Love, and her brother, Warren McArthur III. She is survived by her son, William Lanphear Buck, of Goldens Bridge, N.Y. and her daughter, Nancy Vanneck Hoehn of Vero Beach, Fla. and Burlington, Vt.; grandchildren: John L. Vanneck of Rye; Christine W. Vanneck of Hendersonville, N.C.; Richard P. Vanneck of Delray, Fla.; Sandra B. Vanneck of West Palm Beach, Fla.; David McArthur Buck of Durango, Colo.; and Karen Buck Warner of Astoria, N.Y.; and 11 great-grandchildren.
A memorial service was held at The Osborn December 8.
Donations in Mrs. Buck’s memory may be made to The Osborn Retirement Community in Rye or MisFitResQ.com.
